Trail Blazers' Maurice Harkless Fined $15K for Throwing Headband into Stands

Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless has been fined $15,000 for tossing his headband into the stands near the end of Friday night's 120-108 Game 3 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Harkless was assessed a technical foul and thrown out of the game with 19.2 seconds remaining.

Harkless finished the game with seven points and three rebounds in 34 minutes.

At the time of the ejection, OKC had the game well in hand, holding a double-digit lead with less than 20 seconds to play. While Harkless may not be happy to receive a fine, CJ McCollum made it clear that he had no problem with his teammate's headband toss, via NBC Sports Northwest:

McCollum said:

"I'm with it. If Moe gets emotional and wants to express himself, he has a right to. I don't mind it, especially, you know, when we're out there competing. We're doing the same stuff on both ends of the court and sometimes it's called, sometimes it's not. You're gonna have a reaction to things at times. It's about how you channel it and how you use it in your favor. But if he wants to throw his little soft cloth into the stands and they want to eject him, it's not like he's gonna hurt somebody with a little cloth."

McCollum also noted how the incident did not have an impact on the outcome.

While Portland entered Friday with a 2-0 series lead, Game 3 made for a frustrating night in a raucous environment. The Trail Blazers committed 18 turnovers and were whistled for 33 personal fouls. Meanwhile, Thunder guard Dennis Schroder was doing his best to get inside his opponents' heads all night:

Harkless acknowledged on Saturday that shutting up OKC players provides Portland with extra motivation moving forward.

Harkless and the Trail Blazers will have to quickly put Game 3 in the rearview mirror, as Game 4 will be played Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. ET.